San Fran and Such

This past week we took a nice little family vacay to northern California. We rented an Astro van, piled in, and took off for an 11 hour drive. We finally arrived at my aunt and uncles house in Tracy, CA at about 1:30 am. The next day we headed to San Fransisco. We went to Fisherman's Warf first. We were entertained by the the seals, watched some interesting street performers, and ate lunch at Boudin's Sourdough Cafe. Next we headed up to the Golden Gate Bridge. Unfortunately, it was like the coldest and windiest day ever in San Fransisco, so it was hard to really enjoy the bridge. It was so cold that my mom, dad, and brother Trevor all purchased matching San Fransisco jackets to try and stay warm. And the fog was so thick that you couldn't even see half of the bridge. We walked on the bridge for awhile, but eventually turned back because of the bitter cold. After that we went downtown, drove down Nob Hill, and went to Chinatown. I love San Fransisco and wish that the weather would have been slightly more enjoyable. I have been there many times and it is always a little windy and cool, but never as bad as it was this time.




After San Fran we headed to my Aunt Diana and Uncle Mark's lake house. I love their lake house and was so excited to be back. Jared and I got the best room. We were downstairs and our room exited right unto the lake. The weather at the lake house was much better than San Fran. We spent two full days on the lake boating, wakeboarding, surfing behind the boat, tubing, jumping on the water tramp, catching fish, swimming, cliff jumping, pattle boating, kayaking, and of course plenty of eating. I'm actually starting to improve my wakeboarding skills. Maybe someday I will catch up with Jared.
We went back to Mark and Diana's house on Saturday evening and spent the night swimming in their pool and lounging in the hot tub. Jared enjoyed an intense game of horse with my 11 year old cousin Heather and barely came out a winner.




On Sunday we went to church and my cousins Heather and Anna played a piano duet in sacrament meeting. The happiest little baby sat in front of us and he loved Jared and I. We were entertained by him the entire meeting. Then we all headed to San Jose to have dinner with my Aunt Sherry and Uncle Billy and their family. Jared and I took the little kids on a nice relaxing Sunday stroll.
We took the long drive home on Monday morning but it ended up going by pretty quickly. We enjoyed the beautiful scenery of Lake Tahoe, Donners Pass, Reno, and of course my personal fave, Wendover.
We arrived safely back in good old Spanish Fork and were happily reunited with our little Griffy Guy. Thanks again Kim and Will for putting up with our crazy canine. And as if we hadn't had enough quality family time, we attended the open house of the Oquirrh Mt Temple with my entire fam on Tuesday. It was good to see Dustin and Monica since they were unable to go on the Cali trip with the fam. We also got to see our best buddies Lindsay and Austin and walk through the temple with them. Unfortunately the temple was wall to wall with people and it took us two hours to walk through it. But it was so beautiful and there is no place I would rather be than the temple.

This summer has been wonderful. I am so sad to see it end. And sad to say I didn't accomplish much this summer. Time always goes by way too fast in the summer. So I guess it's back to school. I'm kind of nervous about this school year because I'm starting my master's program and coaching a high school bball team, and of course dealing with the bizarre and unique needs of twenty something first graders each day. I think it might be a busy year. Plus I have my puppy and husband to care for. But I couldn't be happier. I hesitantly look forward to all the chaos, challenges, and new experiences that the 2009-2010 school year will bring.

Oh summer! I'm really going to miss this....


and of course this.